Hypothetical Netflix Rating: 2.6 out of 5 stars
This is really one of those movies that sells itself on the premise. It isn’t really anything character wise. It has a “no shit” reveal at the end that really isn’t worth giving away. But damn it. This was my second time watching it. And I hate myself a little bit for it. I’m going to be honest, I started writing this review about three quarters of the way through the movie, the longer the movie played, the more the score dropped.
Yes, the concept was awesome: a bunch of gamers get invited to try out this new super real virtual reality game only to find out its real. The movie stalls out after that. The characters are forgettable, though the acting wasn’t bad. It looked like people were dying, but I’m didn’t really care that they were dying. To writer/director Charles Barker’s credit, I did enjoy the first act.
In it, they assign the characters suits marked with their gamer tag. Once they put their helmets on, they’re locked in. Don’t worry, they can still lift up the visor to drink, which maybe isn’t a bad idea to do while watching this. After that they are taken through the tutorial where they are given guns that only fire in the game. Then they’re told the rules.
Get shot once, lose your vest. Get shot twice, you bleed out till someone hits you with an EpiPen. Everyone gets an EpiPen to start. Go play that with Nerf guns. It’d be more fun than watching this movie. Except, maybe not the bleeding out part. Also, don’t share needles.
Look At All Those Movies 